


The Elf, The Prince, and the Wardrobe

by Northern_Lady



Series: Elves and Asguardians [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: A little smutty, Food Issues, Hurt/Comfort, Light Flirting, Physical Punishment, Romance, hiding in wardrobes, shirtless Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 22:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14530467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: Food was more important to me than it was to some of my fellow servants. So when I found myself hiding in Prince Loki’s room for the sake of a pastry it wasn't all that unusual. Prince Loki tended to not eat the sweet items at breakfast time. I had gone into his empty bedchamber to retrieve his meal tray and found a raspberry tart just sitting there untouched. My mouth was stuffed full of food when I heard footsteps nearing the room. If I were caught eating the royal food again there would be hel to pay so in that moment I did the only sensible thing I could. I ducked into Prince Loki's wardrobe closet and hid there.





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes when I was cleaning up the meal trays in the palace on Asgard, I would eat some of the food left behind by King Odin or the other members of the royal court. It is scandalous I know, for a servant to eat the sort of foods that were given to royalty but it was a temptation I couldn't resist. We servants were given a different quality of meals than the royal court were given. Any leftover foods were to be returned to the kitchen if untouched or given to the pigs if someone had taken so much as a bite from it. I had known starvation in my childhood. Food was more important to me than it was to some of my fellow servants. So when I found myself hiding in Prince Loki’s room for the sake of a pastry it wasn't all that unusual. Prince Loki tended to not eat the sweet items at breakfast time. I had gone into his empty bedchamber to retrieve his meal tray and found a raspberry tart just sitting there untouched. My mouth was stuffed full of food when I heard footsteps nearing the room. If I were caught eating the royal food again there would be hel to pay so in that moment I did the only sensible thing I could. I ducked into Prince Loki's wardrobe closet and hid there. 

To my horror, the approaching footsteps belonged to none other than Loki himself. I could see through a decorative screen in the wardrobe door that Loki closed the door behind him then took down a tunic that was hanging on a hook in the corner. I almost gasped aloud when I realized he was changing his shirt. When he took off the stained tunic he wore, I guess I must have made a sound because his head turned in my direction. I couldn't help it. The view was better than any raspberry tart. I hadn't realized until just now how muscular Loki actually was. I didn't have time to dwell on it. He was opening the wardrobe door, shirtless. 

“Brynna?” he said on finding me with a mouthful of tart and probably looking as flustured as I felt. “What are you doing in here?” 

“Eating,” I said sheepishly. “Gartnar says if I eat the royal leftovers again that Lothar will beat me senseless. I heard you coming and…forgive me my lord...I know I should not have...” 

“I won't tell if you won't,” Loki said, stepping aside. 

It took me a moment to comprehend that he was waiting for me to leave. I was just standing there, agape, just staring at his chest. “Right. Thanks.” I moved to leave and then remembered my courtesies. “Thank you my Lord. It will not happen again.” 

I fled the room while Loki watched me with amusement. 

All day long I could not stop thinking about the encounter I’d had that morning. Lots of the maids fawned over Prince Thor and plenty spoke fondly of Prince Loki as well. I had never thought for long on either one. I am a servant, and though it wasn't uncommon for servants and sometimes fraternize with their masters, not even the wealthy shopkeeper at the corner of the market square had ever noticed me, let alone a Prince. Why pine over something I can never have? More than that though, I was a widow. I had been married to the brother of my best friend for nearly three years before he died. I had loved him since I was very young and no other men had ever really held my attention for long. Not until today. This was lust, pure unbridled lust and it was new and it was fascinating...and I found I didn’t know what to make of it. 

The next morning when I went to Prince Loki's chambers for his meal tray he was still there. I waited patiently outside the door for him to finish and leave the room. 

“Good morning Brynna,” he stopped and spoke to me as he exited the room and stood closer than was strictly necessary. 

“Good morning my lord,” I said with a curtsey and was sure I had a blush on my face. 

Loki grinned at me and walked away. Once he was gone I entered the room and found another tart sitting there untouched. It was apple this time. I gazed at it longingly for a moment and then put it on my cart of dishes along with everything else. 

Loki stuck his head in the open doorway, apparently not gone after all. “And Brynna, take what you like of whatever is left.” Then he was gone again. 

I did not stop thinking about him all day. I thought of him while I cleaned his chambers, and while I worked in the kitchens. I thought of him while I visited my friend Roskva and tended her injuries from a recent punishment by Lothar. I thought of him while I took the laundry cart down the treacherous maze of streets from the east gate of the palace into the north gate and on to the washing room. I did not see Loki again until evening in the great hall. Thor was hosting a feast or rather a feast was being held for him. There was music and dancing and a great deal of ale. I stood along the wall with a serving tray and waited until I was needed. Various lords and ladies called for more food and I brought it to them. Then Loki called for me. The hour had grown late. Many at the table were well into their cups. I went to Loki's side and poured another stein of ale. As I took a step back to return to my place he caught my arm. 

“Sit Brynna. Have some ale,” he said. 

Several other servant girls had been asked to dance or were sitting in the laps of drunken lords. I sat as bidden and took just a little ale. 

“I thought you might say no,” Loki continued, “And if you had I was going to tell you that you are much too pretty to be standing over there alone all evening.” 

I could feel myself blushing at his words. Loki was never one to flirt with the servants, not even when drunk. In fact, I couldn't remember him ever being drunk though I had only been serving him for four months. He tended to drink very little as far as I knew. Besides that, I wasn't exactly beautiful, being a little more plump of figure than most elves or Asgardians. I wasn't as fat as Gartnar the kitchen mistress but I certainly wasn't slim of figure enough to catch the notice of a prince. 

“You don't think so, do you?” Loki had continued. “I can tell by the look on your face that you do not think yourself pretty.” 

“I do not think myself ugly,” I replied honestly. 

And yet you are confused that I stated you were pretty,” Loki pointed out. 

“I had not expected to hear any such thing from you. Not when you could save your words for any of the ladies in waiting. I thank you for the compliment all the same,” I finally managed to say, quite sure that my cheeks were burning red at this point. 

Loki shrugged. “The ladies in waiting are boring. You, on the other hand, amuse me.” 

“I amuse you?” I almost laughed. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. 

“You are not the first servant I have found hiding in my bedchamber. There was a kitchen lad who tried to steal a gold ring. And twice, there have been maids who waited there to try and seduce me. I suppose they were pretty enough but I had already seen them try to flirt with Thor a week or two earlier and he rebuffed them. I will not be anyone’s second choice. I sent them away and told them never to return...you are the first servant I have ever caught stealing what was left of my breakfast. When I found you in my wardrobe, your hair was awry, you had raspberry on your face, and you looked mortified enough to die. I must admit that it was a relief that you were only hiding for the food and not for gold or for how you might use the Prince of Asgard…” Loki said, it was more than he had ever said to me in once sitting. “Do they not feed you enough in the servant’s quarters?” 

“Oh they do...I just…” I looked down at my hands. It was a complicated matter to explain. “I nearly starved as a child on Alfheim. Sometimes I am...irrational when it comes to food.” 

Loki looked a little saddened by that. “I had forgotten that most of the elf servants are here as refugees. Is that what brought you to Asgard, starvation, war?” 

I nodded. “War with the Dark Elves. Their armies killed my parents. I spent three years as an orphan and did not have an easy time of finding food or shelter. Then this wealthy Asgardian Lady came and started collecting elf orphans to bring back to Asgard. She promised us food and shelter and employment. We knew that she was basically selling us to Odin’s court but we didn’t care. Anyway, she wasn’t lying. I have been mostly safe here.” 

“Not if the kitchen mistress hands out beatings for every infraction,” Loki pointed out. 

“It could be worse,” I said simply. 

“Not anymore. Thor has put an end to it because of what happened to your fellowservant Roskva,” Loki told. 

“Good,” I said, more relieved than I wanted to admit. “Now if I steal your breakfast when I arrive in the morning there will be no one to punish me,” I joked. 

Loki smiled at that. I liked his smile. I liked sitting this close to him, close enough that our shoulders were touching. “There’s no need for you to arrive in the morning. You could just arrive tonight after we leave this feast,” he offered. 

Oh god. I didn’t know what to say to that. Every ounce of my being wanted to say yes. It had been so long since I'd been with a man, since my husband died actually, and though I had been aware of the occasional twinge of desire in recent months, with Loki sitting this close there was no denying I wanted him. Maybe he was drunk though and would regret making this invitation tomorrow. My mind went back to the image of him shirtless from yesterday and my tongue refused to even form a reply. 

Loki seemed more amused than before. “Should I take your silence as a no, or assume based on your ogling yesterday that your answer is yes?” 

“Ogling?” I finally found my tongue. 

“Yes. You know the word. Staring, gaping, looking at longly,” Loki told me. "Just like you are doing now." 

“I wasn’t…” I began to protest then changed my mind. “Well, I was but…” 

“But now you regret it? He prompted, seemingly amused at making me so flustered. 

“No, why would I…” I started to say and then decided that I didn’t have a good answer. It would be rude to ogle the prince unless of course the prince wanted me to desire him and it seemed as if he did. 

Loki leaned a little closer to me and spoke softly into my ear, close enough that I could feel his warmth. "Do you hear better with your elf ears than we Asgardians can?" he asked, reaching out to touch the tip of my pointed ear. 

My breath caught in my throat at his touch. "I don't know..." I vaguely remembered someone once told me that elves had better hearing but I couldn't remember who had said it or if it was even true. All I could think about was the proximity of the man beside me. 

"So you can't hear my heartneat from where you sit?" he asked me, still leaning close. 

"Actually, I can," I admitted. His heatbeat was elevated. Mine was too, to be perfectly honest. And not only that, my face was flush with desire and all my words had failed me. 

"I can hear yours too," he told me, taking another drink of ale. "It matches the ogling and the blush on your face quite nicely," he said with a smile. 

I didn't know what to say. Did he want me to admit that I wanted him? Did he want me to pretend I didn't so that he could persue me? I hadn't the faintest idea how this was to work. "And it matches your heatbeat too," I finally said. 

Loki raised an eyebrow at that. "I see I have been discovered. Though it is not much of a discovery since I think we are past knowing that you desire me as I do you." 

I very nearly gasped at those words. "Why?" I dared to ask him. "Why me when you could have any woman?" 

"I don't want to have to worry if any woman is interested in only gold or status. But you, dear Brynna, you are pretty and the way your honesty is written all over your face not only amuses me, it tells me that your feelings are genuine and not part of some larger plot," Loki explained. "Is that not so?" 

"It's true, there is no great plot. I don't want anything from you, except..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. 

"Except to sit closer than you are now," Loki finished for me. 

"I never said that," I replied, sure I was as red faced as an umarried maiden would be at this point. 

He reached over and touched the pointed tip of my elfin ear. I think I stopped breathing at his touch. "You didn't have to say it. What I don't understand is why you won't say it. Is it because you fear saying no to the Prince or because you think it would be an improper thing to admit what you want?" 

"N-neither one," I managed to force my tongue to form a reply. I looked down at my hands, not truly wanting to admit aloud the feelings that had been stirring within me all day. The lust had been there but along with it came guilt. "I am a widow. It is a strange thing to feel disloyal to the memory of someone, that is all." 

Loki took his hand away from my ear and regarded me with questions in his eyes. "You have served me nearly four months. How did I not know that you are a widow?" 

"No one speaks of my Thjalfi in my precense for fear that I will dissolve into tears as I did in the first few months after he was gone. Perhaps no one thought to even speak of him at all anymore," I said sadly. 

"I remember Thjalfi," Loki said. "He and his sister Roskva served Thor. I was not aware he had a wife but I know less about the affairs of the servants than my mother does. She knows every servant by name. I am sorry for your loss. You must miss him greatly." 

I nodded. A few tears slipped from my eyes and I wasn't sure if it was due to the ale or if it was just grief come back to haunt me. "Yes, I do miss him greatly. I miss his laughter and I miss his protection." I admitted. 

Loki looked confused. "But surely you are safe here in the palace?" 

"No..." I told him, realizing he didn't know, couldn't possibly know, the dangers in our lives as servants. "Before today there was always the danger that Lothar would beat us senseless for any minor infraction. Thjalfi didn't let that happen. If his sister or I were to be punished for anything, he took our beating for us. He never allowed Lothar to lay a finger on either of us while he lived. I've had four punishments since he died... and it wasn't just that. Thjalfi went with Roskva and I every day when we brought the laundry carts to the washroom to keep us safe." 

Loki still looked confused. "The washroom? I have not been there in years but it is on the North side of the palace, is it not? What dangers abide in the corridoors between the royal chambers and there?" 

"We don't take the coridoors," I explained. "Taking the laundry through the corridoors or across the courtyard was forbidden years ago. There are seventy two carts of laundry that are taken to the washroom every day. Long ago, Lady Gable complained that so much laundry crossing the courtyard every day was unsightly and disturbed her view of the garden. Since then, we are required to take the carts out the east gate, through the pauper streets, and in the north gate. It is a dangerous path because the drunken men who live there think the palace maids are an easy target." 

"And have they harmed you, those men on the pauper streets?" Loki asked, concerned. 

"They have tried," I told him. "I carry a dagger and use it when I have to. It doesn't make the path any less terrifying." 

"I will speak to my father and put an end to this. Unisightly carts or not, the servants should not need to fear for their safety in any of the work they do. And the pauper streets should be patroled by palace guards more often so that these criminals may be sent to the dungeon." 

I smiled a little at his words. "That would be very helpful." 

"In the meantime..."Loki started to lean closer but stopped as we both saw his mother approaching from the end of the table. 

The queen stopped next to Loki and put her hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry to bother you but your father has need of you," she said. 

"Of course," Loki said, and got to his feet. 

I did not see Prince Loki again the next day. He had been sent off on some errand by Odin. By the time he returned, one of the Queen's nieces had arrived at the palace and I was assigned to serve her instead of the prince. I rarely saw Loki again after that. He did however change the route for the laundry carts and I never needed to fear the pauper streets again.


	2. Chapter 2

I had seen that silly play about how Loki had died at least twelve times. I left the event early to return to Odin's chambers and finish my duties. Since Loki's death, I had been assigned to serve the King himself. It had saddened me to hear of the Prince's death. For a time, while the prince had been in prison for invading Midgard, our people had not spoken fondly of him at all. I understood why. It had been wrong of him to invade another world, a world that his brother had promised to protect. Even so, Odin had done his share of conquering in times past. Loki's actions were hardly any different. Perhaps though, I thought on Loki more fondly than he truly desrved and so I kept my thoughts about him to myself. Now that Loki was gone and I found myself serving Odin, I kept wishing that Loki was not gone. I would rather serve him again if I could. I had missed him ever since that day when he flirted with me. 

In Odin's chambers I spied a puff pastry just sitting there untouched. The play had at least a half an hour longer. I had time to eat the pastry without getting caught. Three bites in I heard footsteps approaching. I didn't hesitate to dive into the wardrobe and hide. Lothar and his beatings were long gone but rule infractions could still result in an extra hour of work in the laundry room or the kitchens. Odin might not be as forgiving as Loki had been. By the time Odin entered the room I had nearly suceeded in stuffing the entire pastry in my mouth. I remained silent and hidden as he shut and bolted the door behind him. Then, to my great surprise, Odin changed forms. He became Loki. 

I made a noise at the realization that Loki was alive. He heard my sound and came to the wardrobe door, changing forms back to Odin as he walked. 

"Brynna?" he said, on opening the door. "Pray tell, what are you doing in here." 

Obviously I was eating. There was no need to explain it. The evidence was clear enough from my mouth filled with pastry and crumbs on my face. "Loki? You're still alive?" I stammered. 

He sighed and changed form back to Loki. Then he smiled a little. "And you're still hiding in wardrobes to steal food?" 

I stepped out of the wardrobe and just gazed at him, unable to believe it. "If you're here, then where is Odin?" 

"He is safe on Midgard. No harm has come to him. I simply made him forget who he was," Loki explained. 

"Are you going to do the same to me?" I asked, warily. He would not want his secret getting out. 

"I don't think I shall need to," he said, leaning a little into my space. I stepped back and my back met the wall. He moved even closer so that he was very nearly pressed against me. "Not when I still have something you want." 

"But I..." I am not sure what I intended to say. All coherent thought was lost to me at being this close to him. 

"You're not going to say a word," he whispered into my ear. "Not after I do this." 

Then he was kissing me, pressing me against the wall so that I could feel his hardness against me. He was right. I was never going to tell anyone he wasn't Odin. Loki was my greatest weakness. I had thought about him, lusted for him, for years. I had remained unmarried and rebuffed the men who took an interest in me simply because none of them were him. I knew it was irrational. I knew the prince had only been flirting with me that day long ago and yet I could not forget. Maybe I had let myself fall in love with him. At that moment, with his lips and body against my own, I didn't care if it was love or lust or how it ought to be defined. I only cared that I felt more alive than I had in years. I didn't want this to end. 

I gasped when Loki pulled away from me to meet my eyes. "I think you rather like being seduced into silence." He said husklily. 

"That's not what this is," I dared to contradict him. "Not entirely. Why else did you request that I serve you these past weeks if you hadn't planned this all along?" 

"Perhaps you simply amuse me as much now as you ever did," he said, leaning close enough to kiss my neck. 

"Do I?" I said, barely able to form words because of the sensations he was giving me. 

"Though I have missed the way you look at me. You never looked at Odin as you did me," Loki said, moving so he could look into my eyes again. 

"I missed having you to look at," I said, unsure where my boldness even came from. 

Loki smiled and then he was picking me up and carrying me to the bed. I let out a little squeak as he dropped me onto the bed and then crawled on top of me and resumed his kisses. He removed our clothes with magic, one item at a time. By the time our clothes were gone and he pushed his way inside me, all coherent thoughts were gone. 

Afterwords, I lay under the covers in his arms, and he had laced his fingers through the red curls of my hair. "Brynna, tell me you're not going to make me erase your memory of this?" 

"I'm not going to tell a soul," I told him geniunely. "Especially not if you tell me that we can do this again." 

He pulled away a little at that and gazed at me with a look of both surprise and amusement. "Now this is something new," he said. "I have had women try to seduce me for a chance to marry a prince or for wealth or just for the status of being able to tell someone they were a lover of the prince, but this...how often do you expect to share my bed to keep this secret?" he wasn't angry. He sounded intrigued and amused. 

"I wasn't...I didn't..." I stammered. I had said the wrong thing and I knew it. 

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Come back tonight. The only women interested in seducing Odin are far too old for my liking. I'd much rather have you in my bed." 

************************

I spent three nights with Loki before his brother returned and his identity was revealed to all. Now I found myself on an ship with hundreds of the Asgardian people and only a few elves who had managed to escape the destruction on Asgard. A heirarchy had been quickly established, several of the higher ranking lords became part of Thor's council. Others became guards, responsible for keeping the peace aboard the ship, and those of us who had been servants remained servants. No one of Thor's court seemed to realize that many who had been in prison of Asgard had been released to evacuate along with everyone else. Gartnar had died many years ago but Lothar was alive and had somehow established himself as the kitchen manager in his wife's place. I could only guess that our king was too busy with the troubles of ruling and finding his people a new home to even be made aware of what was going on among the servants. No one among us would have the chance to tell him either. His guards didn't allow anyone to see Thor or Loki without an appointment and to get one we had to convince them that we had a good reason to need to see our king. Drunk with their new power, the guards didn't care to listen to any of the servants and so things descended into the unjust situation that had once been when Lothar had his freedom years earlier. 

Four days into the new regime I got my first beating. Lothar was more careful than he used to be in that he made an effort not to leave visible bruises. He wasn't careful about how hard he struck any of us though. When it was over I was quite sure I had broken a few ribs. Then the following day I somehow commited another infraction. I was carrying a tray of dirty dishes and tripped on my dress. Every dish fell from the tray and shattered to the floor. Lothar was standing some twenty feet away and stopped to glare at me. 

"You. Come over here?" he said menacingly. 

I didn't stay and take my punishment like I should have. I ran. I ran in the direction where I knew Thor and Loki's rooms were. It was still early in the morning. The guards would never let me see them but if I were able to shout loudly enough, maybe one of them would wake up in time to stop Lothar from what he meant to do. 

It didn't happen the way that I hoped it would. When I reached the coridoor with Loki and Thor's rooms I found it empty. There were no guards. The doors to the chambers were open and empty. Lothar quickly caught up with me and he was so angry by the time that he did, his blows were indiscriminate. He struck me in the face first of all. I was knocked off my feet and before I could get up he pummeled my face and ribs and stomache. After mutiple blows, I somehow crawled from beneath him and found my feet. I ran a few steps into the nearest open door and dove for the panel button that would close the door and slammed my hand onto it. The door closed before Lothar with his lumbering steps could get into the room. 

Lothar banged on the door a few times and roared in anger. Then I heard him wander away. This wasn't over. He would be back for me. I sank down the the floor and curled up against the wall with my back against the door and just wept. After a long while passed, I took a look around the room and saw a familiar green tunic laying in a heap on the bed. This was Loki's room. At least I was safe here. I went to his bed, curled up under the covers and cried myself to sleep. 

It was some hours later when I woke to the sound of voices outside the door. I did not hear Loki at all. It was Thor's voice I heard. 

"Well if you haven't left it in my room then I don't know where it is," Thor was saying. 

I all but threw myself out of bed and made for the wardrobe once again. I shut the door behind me and found that it hurt so much to stand there that I quickly sank down to the floor. I was curled up hugging my knees in the bottom of the wardrobe when both Thor and Loki entered the room. 

"It's here," Thor said, picking up the green tunic from off the bed. He stopped and looked at where I had messed up the covers. "And so is someone else." 

"There's blood on your bed," Loki pointed out. 

I hadn't realized I had been bleeding. 

"Indeed," Thor agreed. "There's a trail of it." 

It was Thor who opened the wardrobe door but Loki stood at his side as he did so. 

"Brynna?" Loki said at the sight of me. "What happened?" 

I couldn't speak. There was a pain in my jaw making it simply too difficult. Thor was standing there looking confused and Loki moved to the wardrobe and picked me up. He tried to set me down on the bed but I refused to let go. I just clung to him sobbing inconsolably. He gave up trying to put me on the bed and instead sat in a nearby chair with me still in his lap. 

"Who did this to you?" Loki asked and there was anger in his tone. 

"Lothar," I managed to say. 

Thor looked concerned at that. "I was not aware he was on the ship," Thor said, moving nearer to the door. "I will take care of this matter immediately. And I will find a healer for you," he said and was gone. 

The healer came for me a short time later and tended my injuries. I felt much better after the herbs and ice and tinctures had all been applied. When they were done, Loki was still watching me with concern in his eyes. 

"I have no more secrets that I need you to keep," he told me. "But that was never the true reason I invited you to my bed. Stay with me in my chambers and just rest until you are well?" 

Was he asking me to be his lover? I nodded my agreement. I would stay with him no matter the reason.


End file.
